"I know firsthand what is was like to not be able to get a a job, to not be able to go into a public facility and access services like everyone else, to not be able to get on a bus and go anywhere even if I could get a job, there were no curb cuts, we didn't have our civil rights."

Sally Johnston is Advocacy Coordinator at Access CNY, and uses a motorized wheelchair to get around. So does Karen Gillette, who says she graduated from college when the ADA was signed in 1990. She says making establishments more accessible also meant greater inclusion of a population that was previously shut out…

"We were forced to go through back alleys by the dumpsters to get into restaurants. Now we can go through the front door or the side door."